Copper

specimen number:
2282045

location:
Onganja Mine, Seeis, Namibia

description:
A loose fine grouping of twinned native copper crystals. In great condition all around.

The Onganja mine, located near Seeis in the Khomas Region of Namibia, is a historic underground copper operation renowned for producing large crystals of cuprite and native copper. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within the Neoproterozoic Damara Orogen, occurring as a hydrothermal vein system within quartz-biotite schists of the Kuiseb Formation. The ore bodies consist of mineralized quartz-carbonate veins containing primary chalcopyrite and pyrite, which have undergone deep supergene enrichment to form rich zones of secondary chalcocite, malachite, native copper, and cuprite. Small-scale mining began in the late 1890s during the German colonial period, with more formal exploration and extraction peaking during the twentieth century, particularly between the 1950s and the mid-1970s. Production tapered off due to declining ore grades and fluctuating copper prices, though intermittent specimen reclamation and geological evaluations have continued at the site into more recent decades.

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